1949 Cadillac Sedanet - ¡Ay, Caramba!

Hayden Groendyke can identify the exact instant he hatched the wonder featured here. He and co-driver Charles Samples were flying back from the ’09 edition of La Carrera Panamericana, known to us gringos as the Mexican Road Race. They’d just run the grueling, seven-day, 1,800-mile event—one of the great automotive adventures—in a mildly modded Hudson Hornet, and after a slew of mechanical problems, they were licking their wounds. Bag this, Hayden decided right then and there on the plane. “We’re doing this next year at the front of the bus,” he informed his co-piloto.

Dusting off a restored ’49 Cadillac Sedanet parked in the garage, Hayden delivered the road hog to Jim and Jason Smith of the Hot Rod Shop in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. The Smiths began the makeover by jacking up the enormous fastback body shell and sliding in a brand-new Art Morrison chassis, one specifically engineered for the heavy-duty road pounding Hayden was planning. Coilovers are used all around, with unequal-length wishbones in the front and Morrison’s three-link setup in the rear. Brakes are Wilwood with six-pot calipers and 14-inch rotors, while the Oz Superleggera wheels (19x10 front and 19x12 rear) carry Kumho 285/35 and 345/30 rubber, respectively.

The engine is an ’09 Corvette LS9 fresh from the crate, with some tweaks on the blower and intake by Lingenfelter and a calibration by Ed Wright. The conservative combo is good for an easy 600 hp and 580 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. The gearbox is a trick and sturdy Jerico five-speed road racing piece, while Strange supplied the 9-inch Ford rear axle and Eaton Truetrac helical differential. With a direct top gear and 3.25:1 final drive ratio, top speed is estimated at, oh, lots faster than any ’49 Cadillac ought to be going. Our advice should you see the monster coming is to get of the way.

6/13Here’s the Caddy undergoing assembly at the Hot Rod Garage in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. A Peterson dry-sump tank, tucked in behind the right front wheel, replaced the LS9’s original unit.

Completed in barely six months by the Hot Rod Shop crew, the Caddy has run not only in La Carrera Panamericana but also at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the Chihuahua Express Rally, and it even made an appearance on the autocross course at the Goodguys Columbus meet. It’s everywhere. Of course, La Carrera was the headline event, where the car suffered some teething problems, ironically, including fuel contamination, broken shock and anti-rollbar mounts (did we mention the car is big and heavy?), and a rear axle failure. But the Caddy still managed to finish, for which Hayden is quick to thank his tireless crew, including co-driver Charles Samples, wrenches Brad Kilmer and Jason Smith, and friend, sponsor, interpreter, and south-of-the-border logistics specialist Guillermo Berricho. They’ll try again next year.

Jason, who served as crew chief on the Mexican expedition, came home with a special set of memories. The low point for him—or high point, it’s not totally clear—was getting the axle repairs accomplished against all odds. “I had to rebuild the entire rear axle in a truck repair yard in Guadalajara. That was an interesting place, to say the least,” Jason recalls. “Overall, the experience was brutal. It was unbelievable. It was exhausting. It was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I can’t wait to go back and do it again.”